Brampton Teenager Suing Major Coffee Chain After Sustaining Injury
Published January 8, 2018 at 7:44 pm
After a barista allegedly injured a teen at a Brampton location of a major coffee chain in 2015, the teen is proceeding with her lawsuit and seeking $1 million in damages and legal costs.
After a barista allegedly injured a teen at a Brampton location of a major coffee chain in 2015, the teen is proceeding with her lawsuit and seeking $1 million in damages and legal costs.
In March 2015, 14-year-old Abigail Sataur of Brampton was at the Starbucks at 52 Quarry Edge Drive in Brampton, says a statement from Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice. Sataur asked a barista to fill a baby bottle with warm water for her niece.
The barista, Jane Doe, allegedly filled the bottle with scalding water that spilled onto Sataur’s hands, causing severe and permanent injury.
Sataur, now 16 years old, is suing Starbucks, Jane Doe, and manager Danielle Bovenberg, for negligence, for $1 million according to media reports.
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Sataur is indeed able to sue both individuals alongside the major coffee chain.
According to a recent ruling from the Ontario Court of Appeal heard on December 20, 2017, “Here Ms. Sataur has pleaded specific acts of negligence against each individual defendant for which each may be personally liable – in the case of Jane Doe, the pouring of hot water, and in the case Ms. Bovenberg not supervising Jane Doe properly.”
The Court of Appeal granted Sataur $15,000 in appeal legal costs and $2,500 in lower court costs.
That said, the Superior Court of Justice has ruled that Sataur can proceed with her $1 million lawsuit.
The Superior Court of Justice statement indicates that the incident caused injuries to Sataur’s hands and arms that will require future hospitalization and rehabilitation. The injuries have reportedly also resulted in headaches, mood changes, and depression for Sataur.
Hot beverage lawuits are not uncommon, the most popular case being the almost $3 million case against McDonald’s in the mid-90s. It’s true that 79-year-old Stella Liebeck was only awarded $640,000 after suffering third-degree burns in her pelvic region from a scalding coffee spill, according to court reports. But the majority of damages were found to be punitive – this wasn’t McDonald’s first burn victim due to scalding.
How this case will unfold remains to be seen.
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